American Go E-Journal » Pandanet

Despite being upset by Benjamin Teuber 6d (l) of Hamburg in the last round, Tian Ye 1P (r) from Beijing led three 5-1 players to win the Pandanet Amsterdam Open held May 13-16. Dai Junfu 7d of France, who lost to Tian by a half-point in the fifth round, came in second based on SOSOS, while Teuber was third based on SOS. “Junfu’s lesson on his book about the middle game paid off, although I went against his advice in my game against the pro!” Teuber told the E-Journal, savoring “my first victory over a pro in an official game.” Teuber was a student of the late Hans Pietsch 6P. More than 100 players took part in the tournament, which was held at Iwamoto Kaoru’s European Go Culture Centre. Peter Liu 2P commented all of the Board 1 games. This is the 39th year of the Amsterdam Open, making it among the oldest continuously-held events on the European calendar.
- Peter Dijkema, EJ European correspondent; photo by Judith van Dam, EuroGoTV

While Europe was closed for air traffic last weekend due to the ongoing volcanic activity, the 2010-11 Pandanet Tour launched in Bled, Slovenia, which the players — who hail from Central Europe — could reach by car. Ondrej Silt 6d swept all six rounds of the Tour’s first tournament April 16-18, while Pal Balogh 6d won five for silver and veteran Vladimir Danek 5d’s four games earned him bronze. The same names topped last season’s tour, which ended last month in Paris. The season opener, the Vladimir Omejc Memorial, attracted 41 participants, of whom youngsters Luka Camernik 1d and Nenad Denadic 7k – both of Slovenia – also did well with 5-1 each.- Peter Dijkema, European Correspondent for the E-Journal

Pal Balogh 6d of Hungary won the Pandanet European Cup at the Paris Open closing the 2009-2010 season. Balogh collected 66 points from six of the 21 Pandanet European Cup tourneys. Czech Ondrej Silt 6d finished with 58 from 7, while both Christian Pop 7d (56, Romania) and Csaba Mero 6d (53, Hungary) played only in 5 events on tour.- Peter Dijkema, European Correspondent for the E-Journal
photo: Pal Balogh (l) winning the Austrian Open last November, a Japanese Ambassadors Cup event and part of the Pandanet Go European Cup